Since they arrived with Chinese and Japanese immigrants in the late 1800s, images of the Buddha have become commonplace in the United States, even at a mini-golf course in Biloxi, Mississippi. But a weighty statue of the Buddha was no match for the destructive power of Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005. Soon after the storm the Dalai Lama sent a message of hope. "There is a saying in Tibetan, 'Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength.' No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful experience is, if we lose our hope, that's our real disaster."